The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for determining cracked eggs, more specifically, an apparatus and a method for determining cracked eggs by driving vibrations without striking eggs.
For a producer to produce eggs, the quality evaluation and grading process of eggs are important factors which determine the revenue of the producer. Therefore, it is highly necessitated to recognize the right value of high-quality eggs through the accurate selection. An egg includes multiple protective layers which protect the interior material, and the protective layers consist of a shell usually called an egg shell which surrounds the outermost portion, an outer membrane attached to the interior of the shell and an inner membrane surrounding albumen. When used in the specification herein, an egg shell membrane refers to the thing which includes the outer membrane and the inner membrane. A cracked egg is an egg that has a cracked shell but has the internal material not leaked because of an undamaged egg shell membrane, and it is very difficult to determine cracked eggs with the naked eye.
Currently, one conventional method for testing a cracked egg is the inspection with the naked eye by transmitting a light into an egg. This method has the possibility of erroneous determination due to the increased eye fatigue in the case of the exposure to light for a long time, and has difficulty in detecting a minute crack. In addition, the method does not guarantee the objectivity of quality because the determination is made by the inspector's subjectivity.
Another conventional method for detecting cracked eggs is Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-1139805, which was filed on Aug. 26, 2009 and has the title of the invention “Cracked Egg Quality Decision System and Method”.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional striking type cracked egg detection system disclosed in Korea Patent No. 10-1139805 is shown. The system of Korea Patent No. 10-1139805 is configured to strike the equatorial portion or the buttocks of the egg several times using an impact bar while rotating an egg to be inspected, to accept the sound waves generated from the struck egg with a microphone, and to evaluate the quality of the egg, especially whether the egg is cracked or not, through the analysis of the sound wave signals.
These conventional striking type methods for determining cracked eggs have problems that (1) the accepted signal is inaccurate because an ambient noise as well as the desired sound wave signal are collected from the microphone and (2) the determination error is made by the delivery of the sound wave signal through surrounding microphones as well as an applicable microphone in the case of striking a plurality of eggs at the same time to sort out a plurality of eggs at the same time. In addition, (3) It is difficult to exactly determine cracked eggs because striking eggs with a constant force is difficult since the striking distance of an impact bar varies according to the size of the egg, and the strength of the signal varies according to the size of the egg. In addition, (4) in the case of providing multiple sorting devices in order to sorting out a plurality of eggs, the maintenance cost generated on the replacement of an impact bar or a microphone is increased because the device configuration is complicated by providing all impact bars and microphones in the narrow area.